On Sunday, November 16, 2014 1:26:18 PM UTC-5, Phil Kane wrote:   
      
   > Granted that the book is alleged to depict the NYC system in the late   
   > 1960s/early 1970s (?)    
      
   It came out in the mid 1960s, and I think based on the author's experience as   
   a teacher in the early 1960s.   
      
   As an aside, the author just passed on, about age 100.  She was teaching the   
   whole time, I think at Columbia.   
      
      
   > Then again those were quieter and safer times and Stuy was a "geek   
   > school" both then and now.  Jeff has completely decayed with the   
   > neighborhood (which I understand is now being redeveloped == "urban   
   > development").  I have no idea about Midwood.   
      
   I think in those days there were both good and bad schools in NYC, just as in   
   Phila.  Good schools worried about chewing gum and kids talking out of turn.    
   Bad schools had the heavy stuff to worry about.   
      
   I suspect in the 1950s, some sections of NYC began to suffer decay and had   
   rough neighborhoods and associated schools.  The author of a book on life in   
   NYC, "Eleven Stories High", wrote about some unpleasant problems she faced as   
   a teen circa 1960.     
   While I think 1960 was better than 1970 in terms of crime and safety in NYC,   
   there were plenty of problems in 1960 and the foundation was already laid for   
   what was to come later.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)